Category: Interviews

One October tells the story of New York City in October of 2008 through the lens of filmmaker Rachel Shuman. New York City is notoriously hard to pin down. Eight and a half million people and a few hundred years of recorded history make it impossible to capture its full scope in one attempt. Instead, the upcoming documentary One October rises to the challenge with a novel approach: Rather than attempt to tell a sweeping story, Shuman trains her camera on what she calls “a moment”—October 2008—to showcase the city, as it was, those 31 days. Take yourself back...

Quiet, moody and methodical in its deliberate march toward terror, A Dark Song is a remarkably self-assured first feature for director Liam Gavin. The film tells the story of an occultist hired by a grieving mother who wants to make contact with her dead son through the use of an ancient—and dangerous—rite. Audiences Everywhere recently had the chance to talk with Gavin about the freedom of working within a genre, and his experiences as a first-time director who set out to make a different kind of horror film. … Samantha Sanders (SS): Part of the film’s plot involves some pretty...

Having worked on the Adult Swim TV Show Children’s Hospital and feature-length comedies such as Role Models, They Came Together, and the upcoming How To Be A Latin Lover, Matt Novack is an experienced composer with a keen ear for just the right music to compliment comedy. I had the pleasure of speaking to Matt Novack about his work on these projects, and how he goes about developing a score with some of the most well-known actors and directors in comedy. — Staley Sharples (AE): Tell me a little more about your background. How did you first get started composing?...

For February, the Audiences Everywhere Book Club (#AEBookclub) chose Ron Wimberly’s Prince of Cats as their book. The novel, a retelling of Romeo and Juliet through the eyes of Tybalt and set in ’80s Brooklyn, has proven to be a popular choice among members of the club for its fusion of hip-hop, Japanese swordplay, and Shakespeare. We sat down with/emailed the artist and writer to ask him a few questions about his book, career, and who he would like to soundtrack the movie adaptation. Sean Fallon (AE): How did Prince of Cats come about? What was your inspiration to adapt Shakespeare in this style?...

Last February, Audiences Everywhere celebrated Black History Month by taking a deep dive into the Blaxploitation movement of the 70s, with a countdown of the 10 best Blaxploitation films, a retrospective on Pam Grier’s career, and an analysis of Blaxploitation’s legacy and impact on film in For a Time We Were There. Within those pieces, I examined a world of black power where crime, justice, stardom, and some of the best soundtracks to ever be featured in motion pictures collided in a way that provided insight into the only black film boom in history, and it’s contemporary influence. This...

THE LION begins without introduction. This one-man musical is simply staged – Benjamin Scheuer, his suit, and six guitars—each characters in their own right—tell the autobiographical, coming-of-age story of now thirty-something Scheuer’s relationship with his father, first love, family discord, and devastating medical diagnosis. The musical is written and performed by Scheuer; he’s charming, witty, and poised, and, most of all, generous with his story. He’s a brilliant lyricist, the kind who doesn’t waste a word. Music, the thing that binds him to his father, is his tool for forgiveness, redemption, and clarity, and in listening to his words,...

Beginning in the last week of October, Audiences Everywhere will be continuing its Horrortown series of interviews with renowned horror directors in which we will discuss current and upcoming films, and also get the artists’ take on the contemporary horror. When we decided to reboot our Horrortown interview series, I wanted to make sure we added a little flavor to the perspective within our ongoing conversation. So naturally, Rodney Ascher is a name I immediately circled in blood red. Somehow, my plans panned out as I recently had the honor of speaking with Mr. Ascher about his films Room...

Beginning in the last week of October, Audiences Everywhere will be continuing its Horrortown series of interviews with renowned horror directors in which we will discuss current and upcoming films and also get the artists’ take on the contemporary horror. If you’ve surfed through Netflix’s horror selection recently, you’ve likely come across the film He Never Died. If your taste is refined or your sense of good film quality is intuitive, you’ve also watched it. If that’s the case, then you know there’s something exceptional about the film’s director, Jason Krawczyk. The film is quickly surpassing contemporary cult classic status, in...

Beginning in the last week of October, Audiences Everywhere will be continuing its Horrortown series of interviews with renowned horror directors in which we will discuss current and upcoming films, and also get the artists’ take on the contemporary horror. The Houses October Built is a found footage movie that saw theatrical release initially in 2014 and served as the directorial debut of Bobby Roe. Alongside his childhood friend, creative collaborator, and co-star Zack Andrews, their horror film examined some of the surreal and frightening world and profession of operating and working as performers in haunted house attractions across the country....

For September, the Audiences Everywhere Book club (#AEBookclub) chose Grady Hendrix’s My Best Friend’s Exorcism as their book. The novel, a tale of friendship between teenage girls and possession by the devil in the ‘80s, has proven to be a popular choice among members of the club. We sat down with/emailed the author to ask him a few questions about his book, career, and whether or not he has made a blood enemy out of Ikea. Sean Fallon (Audiences Everywhere): What inspired you to write My Best Friend’s Exorcism? Grady Hendrix: The title came first, to be honest. It just popped...

Cash Only is the third feature length motion picture from director Malik Bader, whose past work on the 2006 mock-documentary Street Thief cemented his status as a contemporary auteur of metropolitan crime. Violence and depravity wend their way throughout both forceful efforts on the big screen, but with Cash Only Bader has moved from the streets of Chicago to the dilapidated infrastructure of the dangerous Albanian underworld in Detroit. Featuring a screenplay written by lead actor Nickola Shreli, Cash Only combines taut spiritual revelation with a harrowing drama, and we were more than honored to speak with Bader about...

Matt and Nathan Avant took us on a sci-fi trip through their world of linked conspiracy theories with Lunopolis, a film that we’d rank among the best narrative-driven sci-fi films of the 2000s, and one that made us feel smarter just by watching it. Now they’re back with a new project, and a new conspiracy: we’re all stupid. But there’s no malice meant by this line of thought. In fact, Matt and Nathan hope to heal us through comedy, and an awareness of our own individual and communal flaws. Blending philosophy and measured doses of horror and tragedy, Supastoopid...

In 2012, just as the movie and television worlds were becoming over-saturated with generic zombie material, a small, low budget movie hit the horror festival circuit by the name of The Battery. That film defied all odds to become, perhaps, the most celebrated zombie work within the horror community of the last few decades (including its inclusion in our list of the 100 Best Horror Films of the 2000s). Recently, the filmmakers behind The Battery — Jeremy Gardner, Adam Cronheim, and Christian Stella– announced that their second film project, Tex Montana Will Survive, has finished and that they are looking for support...

Throughout the month of October, Audiences Everywhere will be publishing a series of interviews with renowned horror directors in which we will discuss current and upcoming films, and also get the artists’ take on the contemporary horror landscape. Our final interview in this series is a conversation with Ted Geoghegan, the director of this year’s exceptional breakthrough horror film We Are Still Here. In a way, Ted Geoghegan is the perfect person with whom to wrap up this amazing and insightful interview series. The initial thesis behind the Horrortown series indicated that we were seeking to investigate just what...

To informed film fans, John Rhys-Davies’ name strikes up visions of treasure and magical rings spring to mind. This year at New York Comic Con 2015, Mr. Rhys-Davies sat on a panel showcasing the upcoming MTV series The Shannara Chronicles, a fantasy television series based on Terry Brooks’ novel The Elfstones of Shannara. Afterward, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the legendary actor for a quick interview. For the purposes of our discussion, I figured it would be prudent to discuss the role that first sent him into fans’ hearts, 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, where he played the role...